Thursday, September 08, 2005

Shmuel who?

Feldhiem has just released a comic style children's book on Rabbanu Shmuel ha-Nagid. And I'm thrilled ,you see several years ago after Rabbi Beryl Wein had left Sharrie Torah in less then capable hands, he returned as a quest speaker and related to the yeshiva the great story of RSH.Before the year 1000 , records of Jewish poetry are primarily religious. After that date, secular Jewish poetry began to flourish in Spain. This was the time of the Arab conquest of North Africa and Spain, and the Jews spoke Arabic , while continuing to use Hebrew in their services. Arabic was used in Jewish philosophy. As translators, Jews brought the philosophies of the classical world that had been preserved in Arab cultural centers back into Europe. As poets, they brought the techniques of Arab poetry into the language of Hebrew.Rabbanu Shmuel ha-Nagid (Shmuel ha-Levi ben Joseph ibn Nagrela, 993-1056 CE) was born in Cordova. He fled to Malaga, in the Berber province of Granada when the Berbers attacked in 1013 .He advanced from a tax collector, to secretary, to assistant vizier, and was appointed vizier in 1027.His responsibilities as vizier involved leading the army of Granada for eighteen years.He was at the same time a poet, rabbi, statesman, and general, and distinguished in each one. It was his high rank and success in war that led to calling him Nagid (Prince). His poetry shows him a man who appreciated wine and held writing in high regard. He meditates on the shortness life and to birth and death. His experience in war is in his poetry, he laments the loss of life and the suffering.He wrote Hilchos ha'Nagid on jewish law and died leading a military campaign in 1055.

Man Runs towards the GraveMan runs towards the grave,And rivers hasten to the great deepThe end of all living is their death,And the palace in time becomes a heap.Nothing is further than the day gone by,And nothing nearer than the day to come,And both are far, far awayFrom the man hidden in the heart of the tombTo me chagrin all the new rabbiem had never heard of RSH, so now is their chance, I hope the English is not too challenging for them or that the issur shtar hedyotos won’t keep them from reading it on Shabus.

Ain't gonna work on Saturday

Some credit cards offer you air miles. Others offer discounts on a car purchase. Now, an Israeli bank has come up with an entirely new market strategy: a card that might help shoppers score some points in the world to come.

The new card, from major financial institution Bank Leumi, won't work its magic on Shabbat. And even on non-holy days, it will never function at a store that stays open on Shabbat.The makers of the card want to make it unusable at stores that do not keep the Sabbath, primarily so non-observant retailers may feel the pinch of staying open on Shabbat. That's because many observant merchants have complained in the past that they are being driven out of business by competitors who do trade on Shabbat.

Presently, most ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel do not own a credit card. All it would take is an added microchip to turn a regular credit card into a shomer-Shabbat one.

Benefits for Sabbath-observant stores are not unprecedented. Car-insurers, for example, give discounts to clients who affirm they will not drive on Shabbat; and some public pools offer reduced six-days-a-week memberships.

What's the biggest upshot for the card?

If an Orthodox Jew's wallet is stolen on Friday afternoon, even the most secular of Jews can't fraudulently use the card for at least 25 hours

Now if only they could find a way for my wife to stop using it.

-SHRAGIE- If you have nothing nice to say, save it for your own kind and pretend you are enlightened

HogWash

Shragie has been posting on Amshinov , theories on divine retribution as of late.Katrina for Gush Katif in particular. Now I’m not saying G-d doesn’t settle all accounts, but if He does explain the good fortunes of some of our less than hospitable diaspora hosts.

Ovadia Yosef: Katrina is God's punishment for disengagement

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef,

the leading spiritual mentor of Sephardi Jewry, told an audience in Jerusalem Tuesday that Katrina was US President George Bush's punishment for supporting the pullout from Gaza and northern Samaria."He [Bush] brought about the expulsion [from Gaza], now he has his own expulsion," said Yosef. click here

WHAT SAY YOU?

-Shragie: if you have nothing nice to say, become a liberal and disguise it as being for the sake of civil rights and it will become nice

The U.S. government called on Louisiana residents to evacuate their homes ahead of the storm. The Israeli government, backed by statements from U.S. officials, demanded Gaza residents evacuate their homes.

Katrina, written in Hebrew, has a numerical equivalent of 374, according to a biblical numbering system upheld by all traditional Jewish authorities. Two relevant passages in the Torah share the exact numerical equivalent: "They have done you evil" (Gen. 50:17) and "The sea upon land" (Exodus 14:15)

Bush, from Texas, and Rice, from Alabama, were the most vocal U.S. backers of the Gaza evacuation. Hurricane Katrina hit the states in between Texas and Alabama – Louisiana and Mississippi.

Similarity in scenes: Many residents of Jewish Gaza climbed to their rooftops to escape the threat of expulsion

The day Katrina hit, Israel began carrying out what was termed the most controversial aspect of the Gaza withdrawal – the uprooting of bodies from the area's Jewish cemetery. There have been media reports of corpses floating around in flooded New Orleans regions.

Citizens of Israel were barred from entering Gush Katif; people were only allowed to leave Jewish Gaza. As Katrina was making landfall U.S. authorities barred citizens from entering the affected areas. People were only allowed out.

Gush Katif was an important agricultural area for Israel, providing the Jewish state with 70 percent of its produce. A New Orleans port that exported much of the Midwest's agricultural production was destroyed by Katrina.

Rough translation:The Rambam states that if we gather a loved ones bones for reinterment, we do not recite laminations, funeral chants, the mourner’s blessing, nor do we console, we just thank the Lord. If we move the coffin of a departed loved one, we stand in consolation lines, say the mourners blessing and eulogize even after a year, as long as the spine has not as of yet decomposed.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Regrettable פץ

Four people were killed and 27 were wounded when an explosion destroyed a weapons laboratory in the home of Hamas leader Nidal Farhat Monday in Gaza.The Israeli army said the blast was likely a "work accident" caused when preparing Qassam rockets. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Monday night that the blast was not caused by Israel.Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called the explosion "regrettable".